# plMail vs Postal

> Two self-hosted projects, compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.

| | plMail | Postal |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 51/100 | 72/100 ✓ |
| Rank in category | #55 of 106 in Email | #3 of 16 in Mail Server |
| GitHub stars | 444 | 16 898 ✓ |
| Stars, last 30 days | — | +74 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 10 ✓ | 3 |
| Latest release | v0.4.0 · 26 Oct 2026 ✓ | 3.3.7 · 3 Jun 2026 |
| Setup | Moderate ✓ | Advanced |
| Official Docker image | Yes | Yes |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Main language | PHP | Ruby |

## Which one should you pick?

Postal scores 72/100 against 51/100 for plMail, so it is the safer default.

plMail ships more often: 10 stable releases in the past year, against 3 for Postal.

If you want the quickest setup, plMail is easier to run; Postal needs more configuration.

Postal is growing faster right now (+74 stars in 30 days).

## Details

- [plMail](https://selfhost.directory/project/pl-mail) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/pl-mail.md)
- [Postal](https://selfhost.directory/project/postal) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/postal.md)

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Source: https://selfhost.directory/compare/pl-mail-vs-postal